The advent of graphical user interfaces for computer systems generated an alternative method for instructing a computer system to perform desired tasks. In particular, the development of the mouse and the graphical representation of objects on computer screens enabled users to select an object by placing the mouse cursor over the object, or in the vicinity thereof, and activating a button or other selection means on the mouse.
The selection of objects represented in a graphical format enabled a user to instruct a computer to perform tasks with respect to that object. An example of this approach is the deletion of a document from the computer, which in some systems could be effected by selecting the graphical representation of the object to be deleted and then selecting a graphical representation of a “delete” command. This approach could also be used for the association of attributes with objects.
An alternative approach for instructing a computer to perform the task of deleting an object was to select the graphical representation of the object and to move the object, generally referred to as “dragging” the object, into the vicinity of a graphical representation of a command that would execute the desired task. A particular example of this was the use of a graphical representation of a garbage can or trash can to represent the “delete” command. Thus, users could remove objects from the computer system by selecting and “dragging” the object into the vicinity of the garbage can. Once in the vicinity of the graphical representation of the command, users could activate that command by placing the object onto the represented command, generally referred to as “dropping” the object.
The graphical user interface assisted users wishing to associate attributes with objects. This could be effected by selecting the graphical representation of an attribute and then selecting the graphical representation of the object to which the attribute should apply. Alternatively, the user could select the graphical representation of the object, or attribute, and drag it into the vicinity of the graphical representation of the attribute or object and drop it, thus forming the desired association between the object and the attribute.
Additionally, the use of such a graphical user interface enabled users to relatively easily associate objects with one another. For example, when sending an electronic mail message, users often wish to attach an object to that message generally in the form of a document or picture that is relevant to the content of the mail message. In such a circumstance, the user is effectively associating two objects with one another, namely, the document or picture and the electronic mail message.